Domestic violence

Kohlberger: “40 percent of perpetrators are foreigners”

Alfred Kohlberger, Managing Director of the "Neustart" association in a krone.tv interview

(Bild: krone.tv )

"The introduction of this mandatory violence prevention counseling was a new milestone," says the managing director of the "Neustart" association, Alfred Kohlberger. In an interview with Jürgen Winterleitner, krone.tv discusses the challenges of domestic violence and the need for comprehensive victim protection and counseling for perpetrators. 

Since 2021, perpetrators have had to visit a counseling center within five days of being sent away, which, according to Kohlberger, makes a decisive contribution to the prevention of violence.

The "Neustart" association supports perpetrators of violence in five federal states, 86% of whom are men. "In these almost three years, we have so far been assigned 27,000 perpetrators of violence in the five federal states for which Neustadt is responsible," reports Kohlberger. 80 percent of those affected make use of the counseling, and 85 percent complete it successfully

Violence prevention counseling pursues clear goals
Alfred Kohlberger emphasizes that violence prevention counseling pursues clear goals: "The most important goal is to stop violence. We have to make sure that this happens and the perpetrator has to make sure that the violence doesn't happen again." Counseling comprises several phases, from risk assessment to crisis intervention, in order to break the cycle of violence and promote victim empathy.

The challenges for the counselors are many and varied: "There are all kinds of challenges for our colleagues. One is the broad spectrum of clients who are referred to us. People come to us from all walks of life." And the Managing Director of Neustart continues: "After the removal, the triggering event is still very close and so the aggression and emotions are sometimes still very close. Then there are clients who speak little or no German".

According to internal statistics, 60 percent of the perpetrators of violence are from Austria. And further: "40 percent do not have Austrian citizenship - these are mainly people from EU countries - such as Romania or Slovakia. Then come Balkan countries and Turkey, followed by people from Syria and the Arab world."

What do you think about violence prevention and victim protection in Austria? Join the discussion in the comments!

Watch the full interview in the video above.